The dissertation is devoted to the development of methodological approaches and practical recommendations and measures to improve the service sector as a factor in increasing the competitiveness of the Ukrainian economy in the system of the global division of labour.
The analysis of existing approaches to the interpretation of services and their features made it possible to form the author's definition of a service as a unique product, which is a specific activity, the result of which can have a tangible or intangible expression, which is carried out to satisfy a specific need of the consumer in a certain time period and has a certain value, which is formed depending on the used means of labor, the qualifications of the producer and the level of demand for this service. The author's definition, in contrast to the existing ones, emphasizes the time and target limitation of the service, as well as the possibility of the result of the service having a tangible or intangible expression.
Additional classifications are offered: by the materiality of the production result, by the method of implementation and by the level of impact on the economy. The use of these classification features will make it possible to determine priority components of the service sector for financing and development during the development and implementation of state policies.
Scientific approaches to determining the essence of the competitiveness of the national economy were studied and author's definition was proposed: it’s the ability of the economic system to ensure a constant increase in the effectiveness of its functioning and a high level of social orientation, through the effective use of national competitive advantages in the course of competition on world markets. The author's definition, unlike the existing ones, takes into account the social orientation of the economic system.
It is proposed to supplement the index with an additional criterion, which will be formed on the basis of indicators that characterizing the level of the country's involvement in the global division of labor. Taking this criterion into account will improve the quality of the assessment due to full consideration of the influence of foreign economic activity and the level of the service sector development on the formation of competitiveness.
A method of assessing the international competitiveness of the transport services sector based on cluster analysis has been developed. Cluster analysis will be carried out on the basis of integral indices, which are formed on the basis of indicators of the industry, the related industries and the macro-level. The proposed method, unlike the existing ones, takes into account the influence of the level of economic development and the industries-consumers of transport services on the formation of the competitiveness of the sector.
A conceptual and logical model of the development management system of Ukraine’s transport services sector has been developed. Within the framework of the model, based on the method of non-linear dynamic standard, an indicator for assessing the effectiveness of management of the field of transport services has been developed. Indicator is based on the assessment of the level of achievement of regulatory ratios of changes in key indicators that characterize the development of the transport services sector. Proposed and tested forecasting technique based on the regression of volumes of added value produced in the transport services sector.
An organizational and economic mechanism for the development of Ukraine’s service sector was developed, which includes organizational (systems of strategic planning and control, regulatory and legal acts, a set of state bodies and institutions, systems of standardization, licensing and personnel support) and economic (including tax, budget, monetary and investment policy) components. Within the framework of the mechanism, the concept of creation of the Service Sector Development Fund of Ukraine on the basis of public-private partnership with the involvement of international investors was proposed. A model of joint management of the Fund and a model of filling the Fund at the expense of the state budget and the funds of international financial donors have been developed.
The practical significance of the results of the work is confirmed by their implementation in the activities of AsMAP UA (implementation act No. 0608486), the World Bank Group, and in the educational process of the National Transport University when teaching the disciplines International Economy, National Economy and International Economic Relations (implementation certificate No. 1099/02).
Key words: service, service sector, global division of labour, trade and economic relations, investments, competitiveness, national economy, transport, transport services, state policy, governance, economic growth, strategic development, specialization, organizational and economic mechanism.
